really interesting. >> case law in there. unbelievable. >> they've got the science. >> i wish i could talk more about this. we will, we'll watch there case carefully. danny and joey, flat out of time. bye. have a great day. >> thank you, everyone for watching. around the world starts right now. this is "around the world." i'm fredricka whitfield. >> i'm michael holmes. thanks for your company today. now, we're going to talk a little bit about the train crash in new york. there have been developments. >> that's right. a deadly train crash taking place just days ago. and now we understand that the train engineer is talking and saying that he may have been in a days, quote unquote, just prior to that train derailing. let's go to washington and rene marsh for more on that. rene? >> freed and michael, we are learning more information about

what happened in the moments before that speeding train jumped the tracks in the bronx. two senior law enforcement sources tell cnn producer that the train's engineer, william rockefeller, told investigators on the scene he was dazed in the moments leading up to the crash and he didn't know what happened. when asked by investigators was he -- what he essentially was thinking about, the engineer said he couldn't say. now, we should note other media outlets have reported that rockefeller admitted to falling asleep. however, the official stressed that the engineer never said he actually fell asleep. rockefeller also told investigators on site that the brakes had failed him. but again, we know that the ntsb will be looking intoing whether fatigue played a role and, of course, that is routine. one other point. we know the union has not yet made any comments or they're not commenting on this new revelation that apparently he told investigators that he was

dazed in the moments leading up to the crash. >> rene, when you talk about looking into whether fatigue played a role if that's what's meant by in a days, do we know how long he had been, woulding, what would help justify perhaps being sleepy, being overly fatigued if that's what's meant by in a days? >> right. at this point we don't know what his work schedule was in the days leading up to this. we do know, however, that is something the ntsb is working to get to the bottom of. there are going to be looking at what his work schedule was and what his activities were for the last 72 hours. so they can try and figure out possibly was this person tired while he was at work. we do know this. as far as the work hours go and what the rules are, they can only work 12 hours. they can work 16 hours, but only if they have four hours of rest. we know those are the rules.

now, what was he doing in the days, what was his schedule like in the days leading up to the crash? we don't still don't know but you can bet investigators are zeroing in on that. >> thanks so much. keep us posted there from washington. >> yeah, and also some of his colleagues saying he is crushed by this, and not been sleeping. >> four people died. >> yeah, exactly. >> and others injured. >> exactly. we'll keep an eye on developments there. let's go to allegations of racism against bob dillon, the legendary singer songwriter is under investigation on france on suspicion of inciting hatred. >> the irony is that dylan is known around the world for using his music as a force for social change. and inclusiveness. ♪ but it's an interview that he did with "rolling stone" magazine that has sparked the outrage. >> indeed. now, what it is, the group representing croatians in france

is pressing charges against dylan saying he compared croatians to nazis in that interview. let's go to paris now. our jim bitterman to put it all in context for us. we should point out that bob dillon was actually discussing the stigma of slavery in america and went on to tell "rolling stone" magazine and we'll read the quote here, if you got a slave master or klan in if your blood, blacks can sense that. that stuff lingers to this day just like jews can sense nazi blood and the serbs can sense croatian blood. it's that the comparison that's got him in hot water. explain why in france that could be inciting hatred and why it is in france. >> well, in fact, this comes under a 197278 amendment to the press law here basically that suggests that anybody who incites or provokes someone to

hate someone else because or a group because of their racial or ethnic background is in violation of the law. in fact, it's a law that carries with it a penalty of one year in jail and 45,000 euro fine, about $60,000. so that's the law. the fact is that this was begun about a year ago after this interview came out, october of 2012 in "rolling stone" magazine. and valdko mayor rich who is the secretary general of that croat group said dylan's group would go incite violence. there there have been no charges filed just yet and dylan has been notified he is under judicial investigation. >> jim, what happens now and this group says it doesn't want money. what does it want. >> what's the process here? >> well, in fact, a lawyer for the group told cnn they would be

happy if he just apologized. they would drop their action if he just apologized. and if it -- if he doesn't and if the group insists, then the prosecutor continues, in fact, the next step is to bring charges against dylan. then there would be a trial after that will. >> jim, thanks oech in paris, appreciate that. ukraine's government is still intact despite pressure from thousands of protesters. >> opposition lawmakers, i think we've got live pictures from kiev. opposition lawmakers couldn't muster enough votes to bring the government down. perhaps a real surprise given the makeup of the parliament. but the protesters plan to press on. you can see them doing that right there. that's independence square in the capital, kiev. >> now to phil black there in the ukrainian capital of kiev. you see activity behind you there. the demonstrators don't seem tool discouraged at all by that vote, are they? >> reporter: no, as you

mentioned, fred, it wasn't really a surprise outcome in that vote. the opposition parties don't have the numbers to beat the government and the ruling party. but it was more about making a statement. they believe they've made that statement and say they're going to continue fighting for what is their goal now. that is to overturn the government of this country, to see the president removed from power. today here at independence square the numbers were bigger yet again, growing certainly. they're now occupying this very convincingly 24 hours a day. on top of that, thousands of them are marching to government buildings, parliament, other buildings and so for the rallying outside. they're really falling into something of a rhythm here saying they are determined. they're going to keep doing this and not going to stop until they achieve their goal. so the question now is really what happens because the government isn't going to give up powersly. these people say they will accept nothing less. fred and mike. >> thanks so much in kiev. keep us posted on that. >> it started as wanting to get

closer to the european union. now it's become a revolution of sorts. let's turn to thailand now. the government and protesters have reached a truce but it's important to say for now both sides agreeing to back down, cool off a little while the country marks the revered thai king's birthday. >> police have taken down barricades around government buildings in bangkok. a protest leader says the fight against the prime minister will go on. at least three people have died and hundreds more hurt in street battles. >> protesters demanding the prime minister shin wat trat resign saying she's being controlled by her brother thaxen shinawatra who is currently in ex-sil. >> from ballet stage to a high security prison. that's where one russian dancer is heading after being found guilty of ordering an acid attack on his former ballet director.

>> and pope francis goes off book, breaking away from prepared remarks to address the sex abuse scandal that threatened to take down the catholic church. >> plus, a call from help from your guy. the president asked the world to help him legalize weed. all for an experiment to see if it would help stop illegal drug trafficking. all that coming up "around the world." i'm a careful investor. when you do what i do, you think about risk. i don't like the ups and downs of the market, but i can't just sit on my cash. i want to be prepared for the long haul. ishares minimum volatility etfs. investments designed for a smoother ride. find out why 9 out of 10 large professional investors

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world." pope francis again leading this segment and making his first public statement about sex abuse by members of the clergy, he's been taking a lot of chances. >> absolutely. this has been a big issue for the catholic church. pope francis was speaking to the catholic bishops from the netherlands. what happened wap was he expressed sympathy for the victims in their country the same sex abuse capital continues to rock the church. pop francis saying this "i promise compassion and prayer for every victim of sexual abuse and their families. i ask you to continue supporting them on their painful path to healing undertaken with courage." >> daniel burke is co-editor of belief blog on cnn.com. joins us now from washington. good to see you.nine months into

this papacy, probably is it surprising or not surprising that pope francis hasn't spoken out more publicly more often about the sex abuse scandal? it is after all the biggest crisis the church has faced in centuries when you look at it. >> you're absolutely right. i agree with you. it is a little bit surprising that pope francis hasn't spoken more about it, given how much it was a part of the papacy of pope benedict xvi his predecessor. it seemed like almost every day there was another story about another scandal under his papacy. part of that was because for 20 years or more, he headed the office that end coo of dealt with all these cases. so he was involved in some way or another with a lot of the way the church handled these cases. but is it seems like pope francis has got the media and catholics focused on a kind you have forward vision. he's embracing disfigured men in vatican square. he's washing the feet of juvenile delinquents and talking about having increased role for women in the church.

so it seems like he is successfully kind of changing the narrative as our political friends would say. >> what's the feeling as to why now that he would address this, you know, a tender topicing >> sure. well, to be clear, a vatican spokesman told me today that pope francis has been addressing this topic in private meetings with bishops in various countries, and in private meetings with other people who work for the church. and what they said was he is addressing this in particular with the dutch because the country went through a really, really terrible scandal in 2011, an independent report came out that said that the some 20,000 catholic children had been abused by priests between 1945 and 1981. it felt like he had to say something about this particular situation to these bishops. >> massive issue right around the world and still an open wound really for the church. now, i want to ask you something before we let you go. yesterday we were talking to ben wedeman asking about these reports, and they were just

reports, about the pope heading ow at night maybe in the fee at that he drives around the place and helping the poor firsthand. what have you been hearing about that confirmation or otherwise? >> a vatican spokesman told me today it's a great story, but unfortunately it's not true. there are too many security concerns with the pope right now. of course, he's a head of state. technically when he leaves vatican city, it's an international trip. even if he was going in disguise, they would have to alert the italian authorities. it's just not happening. it seems real like something this pope would do. i think people are excited about it. >> it's a shame in a way. as you say, nobody was surprised because you can see him doing that. >> not a stretch based on his behavior recently. daniel, thanks so much. if you want more information on the pope, you you want to check out our belief blog on cnn.com. >> good reads. lots of stuff. coming up, if it you ask for extra peanuts, how long you'll be stuck on the tarmac, is that

enough to kick you out of the frequent flyers club. >> a rabbi says it actually happened to him. now he's taking his case to the supreme court. a live report coming up. >> aren't they a bit busy for that? your morn you can always do something better for yourself. and better is so easy with benefiber. fiber that's taste-free, grit-free and dissolves completely. so you can feel free to add it to anything. and feel better about doing it. better it with benefiber. thanks for giving me your smile. thanks for inspiring me. thanks for showing me my potential. for teaching me not to take life so seriously. thanks for loving me and being my best friend. don't forget to thank those who helped you take charge of your future and got you where you are today. the boss of your life. the chief life officer. ♪ too small.

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vice president joe biden is on a mission to ease tensions between china and japan. he met with japan's deputy prime minister tarot aso and other ministers in japan. caroline kennedy was also there. >> high on the jend calming japan's fears about china's new

air defense zone in the east china sea. biden actually said he was deeply concerned that beijing wants the u.s., japan, south korea and everyone else for that matter to notify it if planes fly through this extended 600-mile air space. the vice president meets with china's president she ping on wednesday. >> after being on defense for two months on obama care, the white house is now playing offense. the president was battered for two months with bad publicity over the failures of the health care.gov website. >> the white house says it's now time to promote the president's signature health care plan now that the website's fixed and apparently running pretty well. >> that's what they say. that it's running smoothly, but republicans who opposed the health care program came out swinging against the administration's efforts to renew hope in obama care. >> it's not just a broken website. this bill is fundamentally

flawed. causing people to lose the doctor of their choice, causing them to lose their health plan, and if that isn't enough, they're having to pay higher prices at the same time. so house republicans will continue to listen to our constituents, listen to the american people and try to focus on protecting them from a fundamentally flawed law. >> this as a new poll a gallup poll shows young americans between 18 and 29 don't know much about the affordable care act. unfortunately, that's the group the government needs to make the program work. for more on this check out cnn.com. >> and a group of wounded warriors trekking across antarctica, and as you know if you've been watching us here on "around the world," we've got a royal mascot. prince harry, doing his share of work. we just got new video in from his trip. >> very nice. they look like they're having a

good time. harry is trekking to the south pole as part of a 208 mile race. his team is representing britain. they're competing against teams from the u.s. and other countries and we'll continue to follow his journey right here on cnn. making it look easy and we know it's not. >> it's a great cause for wounded veterans. so yeah, good stuff. >> all the best to them. >> his team is winning at the moment. the u.s. team coming in second, the commonwealth team third place. a battle in washington over frequent flyer rights. and it is -- i'd like my right to be -- to actually get a seat. >> that's right. >> on the flight you want. >> avoid any kind of lines, huh? >> well, that's another day, another world. it's playing out apparently at the supreme court level where the justices wrapped up a hearing a little while ago. the case was brought by a minneapolis rabbi. you see him right there at the steps of the supreme court. >> yeah, he claims that his world perks platinum elite membership which is quite a

mouthful was revoked by northwest airlines. why? he says he was told he had abused his privileges by repeatedly filing complaints for upgrades. >> wasn't complaining that there was too much salt on the peanuts. but if we sat on the tarmac for a few hours waiting for some notification what's happening, why the delay is, i think you would agree that that's a lack of decency, courtesy, whatever. >> all right. >> really? okay. >> a big problem. >> i could get a million upgrades if that was the case over the years. justice correspondent joe johns was in court for the hearing. i mean, i dined of don't get it. what happened in court today? >> well, it's interesting. the court was very engaged on this question, no clear idea which way they're going on it. and you can really see this as sort of a david and goliath story.

the passenger against the big corporation. but it's more than that. it's about whether a frequent flyer should be able to sue in state court over the breach of good faith and fair dealing or if all of that is sort of preempted by an act that was passed in 1978, the airline deregulation act which pretty much said airlines were protected from such suits in state court. a fascinating question and anybody who flies frequently is certainly going to be very interested in the outcome, michael. >> many an equally fascinating question too and you have a fascinating answer i'm sure. how in the world did this get to the u.s. supreme court. >> aren't they a bit busy? >> very unusual. you think about it, this is rabbi as you said from minneapolis flew a lot. and he complained a lot. he got compensated for many of those complaints. and the point came when northwest airlines, which is now folded into delta, said, look, you've abused the program.

we're throwing you out because there's a clause in the contract that essentially says, under our so discretion, we can say you're no longer in the program. and, of course, the question was whether he can actually sue in state court over good faith, fair dealings or if airline deregulation simply said no. this will be a good thing for the court to talk about in their decision probably sometime next year. >> okay, it's good 0 know. a lot of people sitting at home are saying what about me? how could this impact me and my frequent flyer? >> well, yeah. the question really is just when you can sue, when you can't. and whether you have the power to tell the airlines, hey, this is wrong. and i'm going to take you to court. there's that fine line distinction in the law right now that says you might not be able to sue. that's what the court is trying to decide.

it could also affect though and when you think about it, airlines have all kinds of partners. they have hotels, they have rental cars. >> they want the perks. >> and a variety of other different perhaps that they sort of buy into with other corporations, and because those are frequent flyer miles, they could be affected, as well. it all depends on how the court decides the case. >> joe johns. >> a broader legal question in joe, good to see you. >> case still up in the air. let us know when it comes in for a safe landing. >> if you will could complain -- if you could complain for being late or kept on the ground and get an upgrade, i wish i'd known that about, oh, 20 years ago. this guy sounds like he knows what he's doing. >> you have to catch up. >> there's going fob more on this 5:00 eastern on the situation room." >> oh when it comes to math, science and reading, guess who is tops the world? shanghai. well, what about those american

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all right. this might be a little depressing to many of our viewers. it is to me. >> uh-huh. >> new figures now from an international study suggesting u.s. students are falling behind their peers overseas. every three years, 15-year-old students in more than 65 countries take tests to see how they're doing in math, science and reading >> you would think we did pretty well. they call it the pisa test. we'll have a look at the most recent results. in math, students in shanghai, china, topped the list. tested way above average. u.s. students 26th in the world. that's not all. in reading, shanghai top again. the u.s. 17th. >> and in science, guess who is topping that list, shanghai. u.s. students coming in at number 21. >> overall, when they works it all out together, the list i saw had the u.s. at number 36. let's talk about this now. steve perry. >> you're very proud of where

australia is. >> we were ninth and now we're 19th if i'm reading the list right. steve perry, principal of magnate school in connecticut. michele former chancellor of washington public schools. the one overwhelming thing you see asian countries. >> i think if you -- go ahead, steve first. >> sorry about that. i see it's about high expectations. we know what it's not. it's not the kids. the kids are manufactured the same way they've always been. even in america, we find the states that have the highest performance had the highest standards and highest expectations not just the states but the schools. we have this middle class malaise of mediocrity in which students are expected not to be pushed because that makes them feel uncomfortable. in other countries, it's about performance. >> michele, how do you see it? if there is an explanation or maybe a host of explanations as

to this kind of disparity, how do you kind of interpret it all? >> you know, it's interesting because if you look at the actual scores on the tests, america hasn't changed. that's part of the problem is we've stagnated. the issue is not that we as a nation have become worse. other countries are leapfrogging ahead of us. we are nestled in between the slovak republic and lithuania where is not where america wants to be. countries like ireland and poland and estonia are ahead of where we are. so the bottom line is that we as a country have to stop being complacent and stop settling for just doing the same old thing over and over again because in this global economy, it's going to mean our kids won't be able to compete. >> i thought something receive said resonated, too. i've got a couple of teenaged kids. there is this sort of expectation that they shouldn't have to work too hard, that after school should be home time and all the rest. whereas you look the an asian countries. i know as in south korea last

year, some of those kids go to school, they come home, have dinner, then they go to school again for four hours to a separate school. it's an industry. what does america need to do, steve? >> what america needs to do is understand that these other countries are as many as three years ahead of us. so one student is three years ahead of an american student in other countries. that's not small. we're not talking about where the real issues lie. the real issues lie in the fact that we know how to run successful schools, but we keep running the schools that we're most comfortable with because to run the most successful schools, there would need to be fundamental change, school choice. there need to be other options we do not often want to have the conversation around because it could mean, god for bid, that some people lose their jobs. >> michele, how do you see it? what is america's homework assignment? >> look, if you look the an american culture today, we are so busy spending our time making our children feel good about

themselves, that we've lost sight of taking the time that is necessary to make them good at things. so in america, every kid gets a trophy for soccer whether or not they played, whether or not they scored. just merely for participating. and that's a problem in our society because we are not teaching our kids about competition. we are not teaching our kids to work hard and do the right thing. >> where did that come from? i don't remember that when i was little. you get acknowledged if you make a good play. >> if you show up. >> but now kids are getting trophies for everything. >> we actually make kids ---ing >> as we have evolved as a society, one thing that we have sort of taken on is this thing that we don't want to make kids feel bad about themselves. in order to bolster self-esteem, we want to give every kid a medal. but in fact, the research shows that kids know the difference between real praise and false praise. so when they're not getting real

praise because of real accomplishments, wes are creating a society where kids just are satisfied with mediocrity. >> that actually, that's something again as a parent has always bugged me, you show up you get a trophy without doing anything. we can't be too unfair here, steve. if you take massachusetts in this study and turn it into its own country, they would have finished sixth. as you say, not everything is created equal. what are they doing that other places aren't? >> their expectations are higher. it's very clear. they've been higher for years. in fact, if you look at massachusetts, massachusetts has many poor communities. massachusetts has minorities and immigrants and people who are special ed and special needs. yet and still, they're among the top performers in the world. we have to understand that the adults created this system. this is not about the kids who get the trophies but the adults uncomfortable going home with a child who doesn't have a trophy, the adult who doesn't want to

sit home and help his or her child do a homework assignment that make up too much of their night. we the adults have to put our children first and create situations in which we push not just the children, but the educators who surround them. too many of us are too comfortable with mediocrity. as a result, as michele said, the rest of the world is moving forward. we haven't dropped. we're just losing in a race because we're not moving forward. >> look, i could talk about this all day. i think it's a fascinating discussion. going be a real talker around the country. steve perry, michelle rhee, thank you so much. maybe we'll do this again and have more, expand on this. it's important stuff. >> talk about the future of the countries. yeah. >> thanks so much to both of you. now, for some other news making headlines right now, let's take a look. hong kong is on high alert today worried about a possible outbreak of avian flu. >> you don't want to hear this. a 36-year-old indonesian

domestic worker was taken to hospital after contracting the virus in critical condition from what we're told at the moment. the country has escalated the response level plan. and here's why. >> the world health organization says in the past ten years, 651 cases of avian full were confirmed and of those, 380 patients died. the who says whenever flu viruss are circulating in poultry, sporadic infections or small clusters of human cases are possible. >> especially in people exposed to infected household poultry contaminated environments, and as fred was saying there, the real worry about this is it is so deadly. the death rate from it is ridiculously high compared to other flus. >> and so alarming. we're also learning more about the engineer who was at the controls when this deadly train crash happened in the bronx this weekend. law enforcement sources have told cnn the engineer told them that he was "in a days." ahead of the crash that killed

four people and injured dozens. >> another source says fatigue is a factor that is being investigated. confirming that. investigators are at the crash site today looking at the train's brake system to see if there might have been some sort of failure or not. we have more on this developing story next hour with wolf blitzer. >> all right. it was a horrible heinous crime. an acid attack that almost blinded this man. the bolshoi ballet's artistic director. now his that's correctors have found out how much time they'll be spending behind bars. people don't have to think about where their electricity comes from. they flip the switch-- and the light comes on. it's our job to make sure that it does. using natural gas this power plant can produce enough energy for about 600,000 homes. generating electricity that's cleaner and reliable, with fewer emissions-- it matters.

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the violence continues in syria today. a suicide bomber striking in the heart of the capital, an explosionings in central damascus targeting an office used by the relatives of slain government soldiers. >> authorities say at least four people were killed in the attack. more than 100,000 people have died in this civil war that has been raging since 2011. a u.n. fact finding team has found what it calls massive evidence that the highest levels of the syrian government are responsible for war crimes, and crimes against humanity. >> the u.n. report also blames the rebels for committing war crimes. and they point to the fact that the majority of syrian victims

have been killed and wounded by conventional weapons and not chemical ones. >> to finds out how you can help those affected by this civil war, check out cnn.com/impact your world. >> let's turn to russia now where moscow's bolshoi ballet has long represented grace and culture but a horrific attack happened that sounds more like a tragic play and the drama that's played out more like an opera than ballet. a dancer and two others charged with throwing acid in the face of the bolshoi's artistic director. sergei filin. now as atika schubert reports those attackers just found out how much time they're going to serve. >> this is the home of the world famous bowl shoil ballet company and the scene for numerous allegations of corruption and scandal that will unfolded over the course of the trial. but today a judge convicted three men of organizing an acid attack on the former artistic

director here, sergei filin. according to the judge, pavel dmitrichenko, a former soloist at the ballet organized this attack in revenge for being rejected from a number of lead roles. he asked his friend and neighbor yuri zarutsky to rough up the director even though he didn't ask specifically for an acid attack. but zarutsky told the court on his own initiative, he threw acid into sear guy failen's face causing three degree burns to his face and eyes nearly blinding him. the third wan was andrei lipatov who drove the car. the judge gave six years to pavel, and four years to lip pa tov. we've been told the defendants will appeal but that could take several more months. in the meantime, sergei filin has undergone 20 operations to try and restore his sight.

he now only has 80% vision in his left eye, 90% in his right eye. and the bolshoi a tarnished reputation by corruption and scandal. atika schubert, moscow. >> investigators looking into the accident that killed "fast and furious" star paul walker are focusing in on the speed of the porsche carrera that he was a passenger in. the los angeles county sheriff's office has ruled out the theory it was drag racing or that a second vehicle was involved. it's believed walker's friend roger row dus was driving at the time. the two had just left a holiday toy drive walker was hosting for charity. the $450,000 car is notoriously difficult to handle even for professional drivers with three times the horsepower of the average car and no electronic stability control. to venezuela, a blackout leaving much of the country in

darkness. the government says it appears to have been that the nation's overwhelmed electricity grid just couldn't take it anymore, but since the blackout happened during a television address by the president, there are some who believe that a little sabotage might have been involved. the situation now being investigated. >> all right. you found one, yeah? >> oh, my gosh. this is unbelievable. okay. the hands there says it all. a hand reaping out to a diver. the gloved person is the driver to rescue this man here after a tugboat capsized in the ocean off the coast of africa. it was thought that a dozen men drowned. but then when rescuers reached into this air pocket, a hand reaped back. and that was 29-year-old harrison okeenay in the bathroom when the boat sank. he had been underwater for two and a half days in that little pocket. >> they got him out safe and

sound. unbelievable. >> incredible. >> you wouldn't want to be the diver and this hand reaches out. >> it would be a little unsettling. but at the same time apparently he had a lot of -- a pretty good sense of humor about it. >> happy ending from a tragedy as you say, a dozen people did die in that. now, a call for help from uruguay, the president asking the world to help him legalize weed. >> all for an experiment to see if it would help stop illegal drug trafficking. [ female announcer ] thanks for financing my first car.

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it's a call for help from uruguay. >> the president jose mujica is asking the world to help him legalize pot. yeah, that's right. wants to legalize the sale of marijuana. >> rafael romo has more on this. why is he pushing to legalize pot? >> this his country, it's about to become a law but he wants to make it a regional law essentially change the policy of

all countries in latin america to legalize marijuana. this is what the president said to a brazilian newspaper in his most recent interview. he said we ask the world to help us create this experience. it will allow us to adopt a sociopolitical experiment to address the serious problem of drug trafficking. what the president is also saying when it comes to drug trafficking, the trafficking part is worse than the drug itself. take a listen to what the president told cnn in espanol back in september. we apparently don't have the that part of the interview. but the lower house of parliament in uruguay has already approved a law that would legalize marijuana. the senate is about to do it, and the president said he would sign it into law. it's not going to be a free-for-all. people who want to smoke marijuana in uruguay have to register with the government and the government would have the monopoli on the production, distribution, and sale of marijuana so it's not like people from other countries can just go and buy pot.

it only applies to uruguayan citizens. >> takes it out of the hands of citizens. keep us informed. rafael, don't be a stranger. >> a fairy tale come true for one lucky buyer. one of prince diana's gowns up for objection. >> yes, bid now. [ male announcer ] here's a question for you. if every u.s. home replaced one light bulb with a compact fluorescent bulb, the energy saved could light how many homes? 1 million? 2 million? 3 million? the answer is... 3 million homes. by 2030, investments in energy efficiency could help americans save $300 billion each year. take the energy quiz. energy lives here.

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all right. now to a little bit of royal history that you can actually pick up at auction today. >> okay. >> get on the phone. >> we're talking about a fairy tale gown once worn by princess diana. it's made of white organza and has gold sequins and pearl beads and it comes with a, a matching headband. >> it looked great on you, too. the gown was made by the designers who created princess diana's wedding dress. it was one of her personal favorites. the london auction house where it is being sold says it go for about $130,000. >> so the u.s. -- that's pretty nice. the u.s. state department under fire for breaking a record on how much it spends on liquor. >> who knew they spent anything on liquor. >> i was just going to say that. >> the "washington times" is reporting officials went on a bit of a spree in september bringing the total to the year to more than $400,000.

>> more than $11,000 in gra to youity wine and whiskey at the embassy in rio de janiero. they doubled that on wine at the embassies in tokyo, more than $22,000. >> nearly $16,000 on about your bob and whiskey in moscow. let's head off to the embassy, shall we? the military has been tracking santa's reindeer flight from the north pole for years on christmas eve. >> but now they're adding jet fighter escorts to the mix. check it out. >> things are that bad? ♪ >> oh, my. >> he needs an escort? oh, the problem is. >> got to be safe. >> some child advocates are saying, military planes have no place in this childhood fantasy. a spokesman for norad which, of course stands for the north

american aerospace defense says adding the jets was part of the program to give it a more operational feel. >> everyone gets into the holiday spirit. that's what's means. that's a lot of fun there. >> yeah, i'm sorry. i'm shaking my head. why do they need a military escort? >> because it's 2013. >> exactly. you never know what's out there. watch out, santa. we've got to run. we've got to run. "cnn newsroom" starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com right now an explanation from the engineer of the derailed commuter train in new york. he says he was in a daze. investigators releasing new information about the train, how fas it was going, when it precisely jumped the tracks. in detroit, a judge has ruled the city can go ahead with its bankruptcy. it's a decision that cog fundamentally reshape a major american city. and right now, retailers are tallying up their cyber monday sales. it looks to be the biggest online shopping